Russian Ambassador to Serbia, Aleksandar Bocan-Harčenko, stated that Russia will “with all its strength” protect the independence and territorial integrity of Serbia, as well as all the rights that Republika Srpska gained under the Dayton Agreement, because Bosnia and Herzegovina can only survive on that basis.
“The situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina is one of the crisis points in the region, and we will protect the Dayton Agreement, as well as all the rights Republika Srpska acquired as a result of the Dayton negotiations and the Dayton Peace Agreement, which it has and will continue to have. Only on this basis can Bosnia and Herzegovina survive,” Bocan-Harčenko said at the Institute for International Politics and Economics in Belgrade, where he delivered a lecture on “Russian-Serb bilateral relations in current geopolitical circumstances.”
Bocan-Harčenko emphasized that there has not been a single issue in the region that the West has successfully resolved, nor one that has been fully resolved since 1991.
“It’s not just Bosnia and Kosovo, which are the biggest crises, but also tensions with Croatia, including more or less hidden ones between countries in the region, including those that are EU members. This shows that it is an illusion to believe that all issues are automatically resolved once Balkan countries join the EU,” Bocan-Harčenko said.
According to him, Washington is not interested in fully calming the situation in the Balkans, “because the harder it is for Europe, the better it is for them.”
Bocan-Harčenko reiterated that Serbia remains Russia’s partner and emphasized that Russia will continue to use its position as a permanent member of the UN Security Council to protect Serbia’s interests in the Security Council.
“We stand by Belgrade regarding the (self-declared) Kosovo. We will continue to use our position as a permanent member of the UN Security Council. Regardless of the dialogue between Belgrade and Priština (mediated by Brussels), the UN Security Council will remain the primary forum for the Kosovo issue,” Bocan-Harčenko said.
He warned that the unresolved crisis over Kosovo and Metohija remains a danger for the Balkans and beyond.
“The West has violated UN Security Council Resolution 1244 from the very beginning, but it still exists. We will protect the independence and territorial integrity of Serbia with all our strength,” the Russian ambassador stated.
Bocan-Harčenko emphasized that the most important thing is that Serbia has not agreed to impose sanctions on Russia, which the West introduced in 2022, and he highlighted that Serbia’s stance is a good foundation for continuing cooperation, adding that Moscow has great interest in developing relations with Belgrade.
Bocan-Harčenko also commented on Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić’s speech at the UN General Assembly, praising it as a courageous address and noting that Serbia’s position stands out from many countries that merely repeat what the West says.
He added that Vučić maintains a consistent stance on cooperation with Russia.
“His position on Kosovo and Metohija is also very consistent and firm. From the time Russia was in the Contact Group, we know how difficult it is to defend your stance under Western pressure,” Bocan-Harčenko said.
Speaking about the global situation, Bocan-Harčenko attributed the current crisis to the West, which he said is doing everything possible to prevent the formation of a multipolar world.
“This is objectively impossible because the movement of our world towards multipolarity is an objective development. Such changes have occurred before, and the constellation that existed for decades is changing. The relationship between the USA, the EU, and some other countries is not a normal alliance but Washington’s dominance,” Bocan-Harčenko pointed out.
He emphasized that the crisis related to Ukraine did not begin in February 2022 with the start of the Special Military Operation (SMO) but earlier, as the goal was to achieve a strategic defeat of Russia.
“This had been expressed in one way or another before – but neither we nor others are foolish not to understand. Now they speak openly, but this goal had been expressed even before 2022. It began as soon as Russia started to strengthen economically,” Bocan-Harčenko said.
The Russian ambassador noted that “on Ukrainian soil, NATO and the West are waging war against Russia” and that the situation is “incredibly tense and on the verge of catastrophe.”
Bocan-Harčenko commented that the West “seems to have no clue” or does not want to acknowledge the catastrophe that the international community is on the brink of.
He emphasized that while Russia has officially declared it is withdrawing from strategic arms control treaties, it still develops its military potential more or less within those frameworks because it considers restraint to be important “as much as it is currently possible.”
The lecture by the Russian ambassador at the Institute for International Politics and Economics in Belgrade was attended by the Ambassador of Bosnia and Herzegovina to Serbia, Aleksandar Vranješ.
Source: RTRS
